I’m showing my age here, but having been a KISS fan since 1975… it is astounding to realize that I have been following this band for most of my entire existence! Although, I don’t consider myself a die-hard these days, I do have an interest in the classic KISS line-up from their glory years. And that is exactly what the KISSOLOGY DVD features… KISS from 1974 to 1977 when they truly were the hottest band in the world!
Watching some of these early moments in the band’s history is quite a marvelous revelation. The determination, ferocity and out-right hunger that drove the band to stellar heights - is all evident throughout the KISSOLOGY DVD. There is a breathtaking performance at Detroit’s Cobo Hall from January 1976. The band blitz through a killer set of their classic early material and watching Peter Criss pound his drums with ferocity and poise is a sensational treat. He was an amazing innovative and creative drummer in the early days but became a shadow of his former self in his later years where his playing is, well, pretty horrid. Also novel to see Simmons’ hair catch fire in his ‘Firehouse’ stunt as well as him forgetting the lyrics to ‘Let Me Go Rock ‘N’ Roll’ as he starts to sing ‘Rock and Roll All Night’ instead!
Ace Frehley from the ‘So It Goes’ UK Special August 21, 1976
For the bootleg collectors, there isn’t much on offer here that hasn’t been readily available in the underground market for years - but it is great to have it all in one neat (beautifully packaged) DVD set. There are some gems scattered throughout as well. There is a UK documentary called ‘So It Goes’ which totally blew me away. It features a backstage interview with the band as they prepare for one of their first ever trans-Atlantic gigs in the UK. It features killer footage of the band preparing themselves before the show and some ultra-rare concert video that I had never seen before.
Peter Criss from the ‘So It Goes’ UK Special August 21, 1976
The disc also features commentary by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. It would have been so amazing to have Peter and Ace involved in the commentary so we could hear an alternate take on KISStory, but alas, like most things KISS - it wasn’t to be so we get the usual Gene & Paul diatribe that surely, most of us are sick to death of.
ABC’s In Concert March 29, 1974 & The Mike Douglas Show April 29, 1974
The entire collection is beautifully packaged and comes with a nice collection of goodies. There is a 20 page booklet which features some candid photos as well as a handwritten note from Paul Stanley as well as notes from the rest of the band commenting on the various shows on offer on the DVD. There is also a surprise backstage pass sticker for KISS’ Spring Tour 1975 tour. This was very reminiscent of the goodies that KISS would include in all their album releases back in the day.
The bonus disc features KISS’ debut show at Madison Square Garden from February 18, 1977. There is only 30 minutes of footage from this show and it features the songs: Detroit Rock City, Take Me, Let Me Go Rock ‘N’ Roll, Firehouse, Nothin’ to Lose, Shout It Out Loud, and Black Diamond.
The KISSology disc packaging
There are also two other versions available which feature a different bonus show. Cobo Hall (1/25/76) Available only if you purchase from Best Buy. This show is known as night 1 of KISS’ 3 night stand at Cobo Hall in January of 1976. This disc features 10 songs (minus encores) including a very rare performance of ‘Ladies In Waiting’ from Dressed To Kill.
KISSology Menu Screen Disc 1 and Gene Simmons from The Mike Douglas Show April 29, 1974
If you purchase the DVD from Wal Mart you get the Capital Centre/Largo show from December 20 1977. This disc features 12 songs including ‘Ladies Room’ as well as ‘Rock and Roll All Nite’.
Gene Simmons & Ace Frehley from the Ace Frehley wedding video 1976.
KISS at the Coventry. circa 1973
The discs also feature some easter-eggs in the form of an ultra-rare 1973 Coventry club appearance as well as footage from Ace Frehley’s 1976 wedding where Gene, Paul, Peter and Ace take over from the wedding house-band and jam out some KISS tunes. One of the first and only videos featuring the guys without the make-up performing together. To watch these goodes, highlight the KISS logo on each disc’s menu.
All in all, a fine collection and archive of KISS from 1974 to 1977. Volume II of KISSOLOGY will feature the band from 1978 to 1992. No scheduled release date is yet available.
This is going to be f’ng unreal. I’m planning a party for the weekend of November 3 already.
Finally!
No more 80’s crap or images of the bloated members barely fitting into their spandex during their reunion tour!
only in usa do you get the extra discs so once again europe and the uk who saved kisses asses when nobody wanted them, get stuffed again….great idea for dvd, but isnt it too late
what can i say, its a great idea but isnt it a bit late, at least the stuff shown doesnt have bill and ben in it ( english joke, sorry eric and the other one) you would have thought when gene and paul looked out on the audience on the 17th farwell tour that they would have noticed that most of their fans were older than them and were there from the beginning. i think its true that U.K and Europe saved kiss when the usa was done with them. so how do kiss repay us, it appears badly. three distributor in the USA offering different discs and a firm date for release and what do we get.. NADA, as per normal. thanks kiss for ya loyalty, It sadens me that kiss state we give u what`u want, but that applies only in the USA it seems. I’ve met them several times and i really like Eric carr, he seemed the most gen of them all. Pleased with his fans. It appears that the UK will be getting KISSOLOGY but when, we don’t know, extra discs like in the pampered USA. yea right, dream on…. c’mon bill (auc) make it like the old days and share the good stuff out, otherwise the bootleggers will be taking money once again from kisses pockets because they dont have the foresight to really give the`fans what the fans really want.
EVERYTHING, in its best quality, which they have.
I hate what KISS has become these days,in fact, I find them downright embarrassing and a bloated dinosaur of what was great about this band. But I will be buying this DVD to see them in all their glorious hey-day.
RE: KISSOLOGY/Fontana Press release
3 different bonus disks included in the first pressing of this DVD. KISS loves to milk it for every cent. I hate the fact I will buy them all. I may just start sending my paychecks to Gene Simmons enterprises INC. The KISS machine limps on and on and on…
Kiss is a fuc*ing world of it’s own…Anyone who disagrees, well let’s just say contact Gene himself with your misunderstanding attitude! I’m sure he’ll take a few minutes to explain to your ignorant ass how and why they were and still are the best band of all time.. Admit it..! Don’t be the one guy who didn’t understand them.. They are KISS! A force to be reckoned with..! -Jesse Brown………………….
Gene is the biggest putz out there right now and has turned the legacy of one of the greats of rock music into an absolute joke. They haven’t been a ‘force’ for many, many years in fact, they are a bloated shadow of their former selves. Without Ace Frehley in the band, they are a lifeless, uninspiring dinosaur that have totally lost the plot.
However, the glory that was KISS - will be evident on this DVD. I challeng you to compare this band (1974-1977) with the bald, fat, money-hungry farce they are today.
Nobody is ever happy! If you don’t like the newer KISS or their products, I think that the best thing to do is to not pay any attention to them either way, whether positive or negative. Love and hate really are akin to each other. You spend the same time, energy, and passion, supporting what you like as you do bashing the things you dislike. Kissology is one heck of a value. It would cost over a hundred dollars to buy this footage from a bootlegger. I guess you won’t get the tv appearances in their entirety, but who cares, what they have made available is remastered! Most of us “Diehards” have all of the footage that is out there, from bootleg sources anyway. And in nowhere near the quality that this stuff will be. People in the UK are crying about the US getting bonus discs? They got Animalize Live Uncensored on DVD. Us fans in the USA did not get that one. If you wanna call a group of KISS fans spoiled, it would be the Japanese. In Japan, every CD has extra tracks that are unavailable anywhere else. Not one or two tracks. I’m talking three, four, and somtimes five! The real glory days of KISS are finally over. If you did not follow them in the mid-seventies, or in the late-nineties, then you missed out. Kissology is a celebration of the things that made you love KISS. The smoke, fire, blood, explosions, and mind-numbing, thunderous volume! Bonus discs? Who cares! Seen it before? Me too! But, it’s a party, I have my $29.99 in my hand, and I can’t wait.
Listen…. F%ck all you who are complaining about what KISS did or didn’t do. They ROCK!! They rocked in 1973 and they still rock in 2006. Every Country that has supported KISS has gotten “special” treatment at one point or another, as far as bonus discs or limited releases, or promo only material. And in todays market, you know full well that you’ll be able to get anything bonus in someway at some point. It may not be right away, but you’ll get it. KISS does give their fans what they want. If they were not listening to the fans, they wouldn’t have gone out on the Rock the Nation tour and played songs like “Love Her All I Can”, or “Makin Love”, or “She” or “Parasite”, shit!! even on the last Japan tour from this past July, they pulled out “Kissin Time” and “Love ‘em and Leave ‘em” !! The fans will get a fair shake and always have! Quit your bitchen, and just enjoy the music!
I know having to buy all 3 discs suxxs, but has it ever occurred to anyone that the extra discs are not actually the idea of Kiss themselves but a marketing ploy by the record company.
Kiss are certainly a caricature of themselves nowadays but were great when this material was made. So, forget what they are like now and just go out and buy this sucker.
what can i say ,hehehehe a few comments and i get a load of good reply’s both positive and negative. Nice to know everyone has still got passion about kiss. I’ve been a fan since 1975 saw them on the unmasked tours and over 40 times since. I agree about the comments that others get preferential treatment and extra stuff,and i know its probably a marketing ploy to get folk to buy more of the dvds, as i will try to do. But as others would feel if an album was only sold in outer mongolia and you had to pay over the odds to buy it, you’d not be happy, now would you? i still love kiss as we all do but you have too see them for what they are now. A brand name. I love them do death have all of the bootlegs (over 350 ) or if Gene’s reading, errr i dont have any. Bought their albums both original and remastered and loads of other stuff i have forgotton. Kiss have been part of my life for over 31 years and i feel that if i need to bitch about something thats been in my life that long i can. I’m not denigrating the guys at all, they made the best decisions at the time (the elder ohhh dear) some good some not too good. But, in the end they gave us what we asked for… old stuff.. from when to me..kiss was.. kiss…It nice when new fans rediscover kiss, but a lot of us didn’t lose them in the first place….Here’s a thought.. instead of shouting one another down, why didn’t anyone say… can u get me this DVD in the uk and ill get you the three versions of Kissology, after all were all fans of the same thing…
Seeing as this discussion is hotting up, here’s some classic KISS pics from my personal collection. Enjoy!
Hotter Than Hell cover shoot. Notice Ace with only half his face made up. (photo by Norman Seef)
Hotter Than Hell cover shoot Out-take. (photo by Norman Seef)
Hotter Than Hell cover shoot Out-take. (photo by Norman Seef)
Hotter Than Hell back-cover shoot Out-take. (photo by Norman Seef)
Hotter Than Hell back-cover shoot Out-take. (photo by Norman Seef)
Hotter Than Hell back-cover shoot Out-take. (photo by Norman Seef)
Backstage 1974.
I will only by the first kissology cuz after that kiss lost half of there band and made sum pretty bad music but 73-78 they were awesome nd one of the best bands ever cuz they actually cared about there music not jus the money
how long is the movie version in the theatre going to be??
nice pictures!
I for one can not wait for this dvd, its long over due and it will have been well worth the wait to replace crappy quality bootlegs with this genuine release.
You know, there have been some bloody great quality boots knocking around for a while, I would say some of the finest quality boots already available are the backbone to this New DVD set, so for quite a few people this is considered merely an upgrade !
I’ll have to agree with the majority that it’s about time this came out. It was getting tiresome seeing the band’s past official video/DVD releases showing too much 80’s crap or reunited bloated members who could barely walk across the stage!
I look at the track list and see only two songs from The Midnight Special in 1975. On my bootleg video at home, there are three songs so what has happened to “Deuce”? I would be very disappointed if this song is not included on the dvd as it is probably the best version of the song I have ever heard.
I didn’t see Rock Bottom on any of the concert tracks listed for the first DVD. What a bummer, that was one of my favorites from the Alive album. Hey I like Black Diamond too, but why are there 3-4 different concert tracks of that song and no Rock Bottom….
What a bunch of whiners and clowns. What are you doing on this site if you don’t like Kiss?They are selling this dvd for $20. I thought it would be $50! Do you expect them to put out an 18 hr. dvd? They have been together for 35 years and to this day put on the best stage show of all time.Yes their prime was in the mid 70’s but they still rock!This dvd will kick ass!!!!!
where the hell is the extra coventry ‘73 and ace’s wedding footage… i have all the other stuff and i just bought this thing expecting that extra footage! how hidden is this footage on here?
pizzed, click on the KISS logo on each menu to get to the easter-eggs. (Ace’s wedding & Coventry).
I wanted to know if anyone can tell me what is the 3 disk everyone is talking about. I got the dvd abd the one that I got was live at mdison suare garden. Is there another KISSOLOGY that I do not know about? E-mail me at Timothy_Jenkins@hotmail.com
Hi,
I gotta question…
Does anybody of you know when Kissology Vol. 2 will be available?
Thanks in advance!
Melanie
Wow!!!
Very,very nice pictures!!!
I loved!!!
the best of the world
ace is my only love for ever an ever… always